Alas, Tail O' the Pup
was forced to close in early 2006 when the owner of the property refused
to renew the famous hot dog stand's lease. (They plan to develop condominiums
and a retirement community for gays & lesbians on the site.)

There is hope of re-opening Tail O' the Pup in Westwood Village, on a parking
lot at the corner of Broxton
& Weyburn Avenues, but that is still up in the air.

I'll leave this page up for a while, for those interested in the reading
the history of Tail O' the Pup, but remember that the article below
was written when the stand was still open at its San Vicente Blvd location.

At
one time, architectural kitsch was the rage in L.A., and there were dozens
of eccentric restaurants scattered around the Hollywood area. You could,
for instance, eat in a restaurant shaped like a hat: the Brown Derby. Other
restaurants resembled teepees and even a bull dog. (You can see models
of many of these buildings at the Petersen
Automotive Museum, on Wilshire Blvd.)

Alas, the Brown Derby
and most of L.A.'s other unusually-styled buildings were torn down long
ago. But there is one notable survivor from those days of architectural
excess: the Tail O' the Pup.

Built in 1945, it
is a hot dog stand shaped like (what else?) a giant hot dog, in a giant
hot dog bun - with mustard, of course. Over the years, this humble counter
has served the public over five million hot dogs - everything from the
Mexican Ole, (with chili, cheese & onions) to the Boston
Celtic (with baked beans).

It
may be tacky, but the Tail O' the Pup has become a beloved local landmark.

There were serious
howls of protests from Los Angelenos when the stand was threatened with
destruction in 1985. When it re-opened in 1986 (a few yards away from its
original location), the odd little hot dog stand had a grand reopening
worthy of any Hollywood premiere, complete with star emcees such as Jay Lenoand Robert Wagner.

Billy Crystal
is also a fan, as is Richard Dreyfus,
Lily Tomlin,
Whoopi Goldberg,
Magic Johnson,
Robert Culp
and Jenny McCarthy.

Tail
O' the Pup has even appeared in a few movies. It's seen during the opening
credits of the 1984 Brian De Palma
thriller, "Body Double." And it was seen twice in the
1991 Steve Martin
comedy "L.A. Story" : first being towed across the sky
by a helicopter (during the movie's opening credits), and then in its actual,
down-to-earth location, during the scene where Roland tries to win back
his ex-wife, Sarah (while they dine outside the hot dog stand).

It was also seen
in the George Benson
video "Give Me the Night."

And if you take a
look at the Buck Owens'
album, "Hot Dog," you'll recognize our old friend.

Most
recently, Pamela Anderson Lee
filmed the pilot for her new action show, "V.I.P."
at Tail O' the Pup. In VIP episode #1, titled "It Beats Working
At A Hot Dog Stand," Pamela's character is working at Tail
O' the Pup when she is asked out to a movie premiere by a handsome actor.
When she saves him from a would-be assassin, she finds herself sucked into
the exciting life of a bodyguard.

As you might guess,
Tail O' the Pup also dishes out some very good chili dogs (although, for
my money, not quite as good as those at Pink's).
There are a few tables out front, with umbrellas, on a tiny patio where
you can sit down to eat your hot dogs in the sunshine. Hot dogs sell for
around $2. Open daily: 6 AM - 6 PM (except Sundays, when they open at 8
AM).

Getting
there:
Tail of the Pup is located within walking distance of the Beverly
Center Mall and the Hard Rock
Cafe , just north of the corner of Beverly Boulevard and San Vicente
Boulevard, in Los Angeles (on the border with West Hollywood).

This webpage is not associated
with any business described in the article above, and does not constitute
an
endorsement of this or any other business. The photos of celebrities on
this page also do not constitute
endorsements by them of any kind, and are used by the author solely to
illustrate this online article.(Click here
to read other disclaimers)